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In airport news, Beijing's massive new airport is on track to open later this year; Chicago reveals possible designs for its O'Hare Global Terminal; San Francisco's international terminal gets a new food hall; New Orleans will open a futuristic new terminal this spring; and San Diego eyes an underground link between the airport and its Old Town.

Flight tests started this month at Beijing's massive new Daxing International Airport, which has been under construction for more than four years and is on track to open in September. Daxing will take pressure off the city's existing Beijing Capital Airport, which is struggling to cope with the rapid growth of the country's aviation sector. Located 29 miles south of the city's Tiananmen Square, the new facility is said to be the largest single-terminal airport in the world at 700,000 square meters. The dominant airlines at Daxing will be China Southern and China Eastern. Currently the plan is for Daxing airport to house operations of SkyTeam airlines, while Star Alliance airlines (Including Air China) will remain at Beijing Capital. It remains to be seen how Oneworld will fit into the mix. The $14 billion airport will have a capacity of almost 50 million annual passengers when it opens, 70 million by 2025 and eventually as many as 100 million. The airport will feature a subway link to Beijing's transit system as well as a high-speed rail line connecting it to the city of Tianjin southeast of Beijing. The airport does not yet have an IATA three letter code. See slideshow at the top of this post for a look!

Travelers using San Francisco International's Boarding Area A in the International Terminal finally have access to the newly opened Manufactory Food Hall, which has been in the works for more than a year. The 3,241 square foot hall brings the talents of leading local chefs to the airport. Dining options include Thai-inspired selections at Kamin, from Pim Techmuanvivit of Kin Khao; tacos, salads, tostadas and more from Gabriela Camara, who operates the Cala taqueria in the Civic Center; and a menu of sandwiches, soups and salads as well as bakery goods and a coffee bar from Elisabeth Pruitt and Chad Robertson, who operate the city's Tartine Manufactory. Note: the new food hall is BEHIND security in International Concourse A (the non-United/Star Alliance side), which will limit passengers' access to it since A does not currently connect to other terminals behind security. Too bad, as this is a very nice addition to the culinary lineup at SFO. Good news: An airside connection to SFO's new Harvey Milk Terminal 1 should open in 2021.

As Chicago moves forward with plans for its $8.5 billion O'Hare Airport overhaul and expansion program, the city has unveiled five finalist designs from leading architectural firms for O'Hare's new Global Terminal, a 2.25 million square foot structure that will replace the existing Terminal 2 – making it one of the largest airport terminals in the U.S. The Global Terminal will handle both international and domestic flights and will allow for easy connections between the adjacent hubs of United at Terminal 1 and American at Terminal 3. The city obtained design plans from 12 architectural firms and has narrowed those down to five, with a winner expected to be named later this spring. Click here for a quick look at the five designs; click here to see videos submitted by the five finalists.

New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International Airport has set a May 15 opening date for its brand-new 35-gate passenger terminal. The $1 billion structure on the north side of the airport property will replace the existing 60-year-old terminal. The 972,000 square foot terminal will have three passenger concourses, a big consolidated security checkpoint with 17 lanes, a pair of new parking garages, 100 check-in counter spaces, an in-line checked baggage screening system, and a wide range of new food, beverage and retail concessions. "Because the new terminal is designed to accommodate modern concessions facilities, passengers will have access to 45 concessions once they are beyond the centralized security checkpoint," the airport said. The baggage claim area will have a stage called the Jazz Garden with live performances throughout the day. Once the new terminal opens, all flight operations will move there from the existing terminal. See an image of the new terminal in the slideshow at the top of this post.

San Diego's mayor and the head of the area's Association of Regional Governments have endorsed a plan to create a regional transportation center in the city's Old Town area with a people-mover link to the airport terminals – possibly an underground one. The officials said they have been in contact with Elon Musk's Boring Company – which was selected by the City of Chicago to develop a high-speed tunnel linking The Loop with O'Hare Airport – about the possibility of digging an underground link to SAN from the planned transit center. The proposal would also require the cooperation of the U.S. Navy, since it would incorporate some 70 acres where the Navy currently houses its Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). Those facilities would remain on the site but would have to be relocated. The project has been dubbed San Diego Grand Central; the transit center would create a link between the airport people mover, the city's trolley system, buses, and the Coaster commuter rail line.